[January 15, 2014]
(Reuters) — Forbes Media, the company known for its
namesake magazine and ranking the world's richest
people, has caught the attention of six different
companies including Germany's Axel Springer, according
to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Other interested companies, the Journal said,
include Chinese investment company Fosun International; Spice
Global, an investment conglomerate based in Singapore; private
equity firm Oxley Group in Singapore; investment management
company Whale Capital Group in China; and the president of
Forbes conferences, Jack Laschever who is leading an investment
group.

A spokeswoman for Forbes, which is privately owned, declined to
comment.

Representatives for Fosun, Spice Global and the Oxley Group
could not immediately be reached for comment. Whale Capital
could not be reached to comment. Laschever was also not
immediately available.

The Forbes family announced it was putting the media company up
for sale in November. The family, along with private equity firm
Elevation Partners, hopes to fetch between $400 million and $500
million, Reuters quoted a person familiar with the matter as
saying at the time. Elevation Partners owns a 45 percent stake
in Forbes.

It is not clear how much the parties are willing to bid, the
Journal said.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New
York, additional reporting by Nadine Schimroszik in Berlin;
editing by Jonathan Oatis)